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Trinamul labour pangs spill out

OUR BUREAU

Calcutta, Feb. 10: The divisions in Trinamul's labour arm tumbled out in the open today when veteran trade union leader and government chief whip Sovandeb Chattopadhyay blamed a section in Indian National Trinamul Trade Union Congress (INTTUC) for bringing disrepute to the organisation. "I am not a liability to the party and the party has never been embarrassed because of me. These days, one can hear several complaints against some of our leaders," said Chattopadhyay, two days after he was removed as national president of INTTUC. Subrata Mukherjee, panchayat, rural development and public health engineering minister in Mamata Banerjee's cabinet was given the charge of Trinamul's labour wing in a shuffle that did not come as a surprise to many. Subrata's trade union background will come in handy if and when Trinamul tries to make inroads into Congress labour pockets. Naxalite-turned-Trinamul leader Purnendu Bose, who is also the state labour minister, was made the chairman of the organisation while his aide, Dola Sen, remains the state president. "I have been associated with trade unions for three decades and that's why I am saddened. I am getting calls from party supporters and leaders, who are saying that an injustice was done to me," Chattopadhyay later told The Telegraph. During his unscheduled interaction with the media at Writers', he said that though a section in the organisation was elated with his ouster, he would continue playing a role in Trinamul's trade union front. Chattopadhyay did not name Bose, but it was apparent that his tirade was directed at the labour minister. "Nobody ever associated me with syndicates but some leaders have brought disrepute to the party for their alleged involvement in them," said the veteran trade union leader, who was closeted in an hour-long meeting with Mamata yesterday. Some syndicate members had claimed indirect support from Bose, though the minister has always maintained that he has got nothing to do with syndicates. Referring to today's remarks by Chattopadahyay, a Trinamul source said: "Everyone in the party knows that two factions of INTTUC are at war with each other. In several companies across the state, INTTUC members are running parallel unions that are in conflict with each other." While Chattopadhyay has been at the helm of one of the factions, Bose and Sen are heading the other group. A Trinamul source said that Chattopadhaya's removal would help Bose and Sen to try and consolidate their position in INTTUC. But controlling the trade union front of the party will be easier said than done for the duo, who are facing stiff resistance in districts like East Midnapore, South and North 24-Parganas, Hooghly and Howrah. In East Midnapore, resistance is expected from Haldia MLA Seuli Saha and INTTUC district unit president Tushar Mondal. Saha alleged that Sen did not give approval to newly formed unions in companies across Haldia. "I am saddened by the fact that whenever a new union with the local MLA at the helm seeks INTTUC affiliation, we are denied it for unknown reason," Saha said.